Tax-Exempt Organizations: Special Problems with Charitable Entities

Tax-exempt organizations face a new tax reality under our new tax reform law. In the rush to understand the changes made by the 2017 federal tax reform law (P.L. 115-97, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)), tax-exempt organizations may not yet have had time to consider how the federal changes may affect state taxes. Similarly, state taxing authorities and state tax practitioners may be so wrapped up in the state and local tax (SALT) implications of the TCJA for individuals or regular C corporations (especially changes affecting the 2017 tax year) that they may not yet have had time to consider the SALT implications of tax reform for tax-exempt organizations. There are more questions than answers when it comes to both the federal and state tax implications of tax reform for tax-exempt organizations.

Richard Sills of Holland & Knight joins us to clarify the impact on these entities.

Speaker Profiles

Richard P. Sills is a partner in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office and practices in the areas of trusts and estates, taxation, and tax-exempt organizations. He serves as the chair of the firm's Tax-Exempt Organizations Group and represents tax-exempt organizations in a broad range of tax and governance issues. Among other topics, he advises boards of directors regarding their fiduciary responsibilities and regarding the policies required to satisfy the recommended "good governance" practices of the IRS. He also represents individual clients interested in charitable giving and philanthropy, either during their lives or as part of their estate planning. He advises publicly supported charities including universities, private foundations (operating and non-operating), support organizations, community foundations with donor advised funds and charitable trusts, as well as noncharitable exempt organizations such as trade associations and clubs.

,

Mr. Sills' professional articles have appeared in such journals as Taxation of Exempts, The Washington Lawyer, Taxation for Accountants, District Lawyer, Journal of Taxation and Journal of Real Estate Taxation. He has extensive teaching and lecturing experience, including coursework for the District of Columbia Bar Continuing Legal Education Program, the Georgetown University Law Center, the George Washington University National Law Center and the Albany Law School Estate Planning Institute.